Two Arrested After Fake Bomb Planted AT East Hampton Middle School

EAST HAMPTON — — Two people were arrested on Saturday for leaving a facsimile bomb outside the front doors of East Hampton Middle School, forcing officials to lock down the building to investigate the device, police said.

Sean Doran, 20, Kayla Sypek, also 20, both of East Hampton, were charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree threatening and first-degree breach of peace. All three are felonies.

Police say that the bomb scare appeared to be an isolated incident, and that the town's schools appear safe for students.

The fake bomb with a timing device was found at about 8:40 a.m. by a custodian who was preparing to open the school for a Christian youth basketball league police said in a press release.

The police and fire departments and the state police bomb squad responded, and technicians examined and X-rayed the item and determined it was a facsimile bomb that did not contain any explosives.

The school was checked for other dangerous items, but nothing was found.

East Hampton police said security camera footage showed a silver vehicle pulling up to the front of the school Saturday at about 1:47 a.m. A man wearing a plaid flannel shirt got out of the vehicle, placed a device near the school doors and then drove off, police said.

From the footage, Officer Michael Salafia identified the male suspect as Doran, and knew that Doran dated Sypek, who owned a silver Toyota Corolla, a press release about the incident stated.

Police stopped the suspected vehicle at about 12:27 p.m. Saturday near Staeth Road. Sypek was driving, and Doran, who wearing a shirt similar to the one in the surveillance video, and Sypek's 2-year-old daughter were passengers.

Police said Doran and Sypek admitted that they had gone to the middle school that morning and planted the facsimile bomb. The two found the facsimile bond among debris on the grounds of the Strategy Plus Paintball facility on Bear Swamp Road, and then brought it to the school, police said.

Both Doran and Sypek are being held on $100,000 bonds. They will remain in custody until their arrangement on Monday at Middlesex Superior Court, police said.